Bear Lake 2010

Bear Lake is always SUCH a fun trip, and this year- of course!- did not disappoint! We had such a blast! We weren't able to make it for the whole week- DANG that work!- but we did make it to half- and we had SUCH a great time! It seriously is SO nice to just be with family for so long- and let the kids run rampant and eat anything they want! (cole and i may or may not have done the same thing! :) )We left for the lake from Denver on Wednesday after Cole was done with work and drove all night! Well- we finally pulled into Sweet Water at like 1:30 a.m.! LONG DRIVE! SO worth it though. We hung out at the beach, ate LOTS AND LOTS of food, played Volleyball with all of Cole's cousins/aunts, etc., and just had a wonderful time! The kids were in absolute HEAVEN! They had SO much fun playing with all of their cousins, and it is so awesome, because we have LOTS of nieces that love to play with the kids, and will watch them whenever they can! Morgs was smothered of course- who wouldn't smother that darling face! We were even able to attend church in Garden City on Sunday! Cole was quite embarrassed, because we (he really forgot them- but blames it on me!) his church clothes so he had to wear levis and a polo! I thought he looked quite dashing! Hey- we went right?! We had such a fun time- and it is always so sad to see everyone leave and to say goodbye. We had these really fun shirts made which have a fun drawing on the back- let me explain! Coles mother is one of FIVE girls and they happen to all have names that start with the letter M, and they happen to all look almost pretty much identical! The kids always mix them up! Poor grandkids don't know who they are sidling up to! Anyways, one of the sisters wanted to have some shirts made for the entire family like their mother used to do way back when- so she had a fun picture drawn with the sisters ATTACKING the Bear Lake monster! It is absolutely hilarious! They were all so embarrassed- but it was so fun to have all the same shirts. There were quite a few of us! Anyways...we had the most wonderful time, and can't wait until we can go again next year! Cole is already planning his Sweet Sand Castle! Maybe he'll have to join in the contest.

See what I mean about cutest squishiest face?! Seriously! I could EAT those cheeks!

Rylie, Payton, Lincoln and Karden after finishing their "Cheez-it" castle! Pretty proud I'd Say!

Cole helping the kids construct the sandcastle. Sure does love to play in the sand! And to use the bulldozers and backhoes that we brought- it was like a kid in a candy store!

Payton and Karden trying to stay Hydrated

More sandcastles

If we weren't at the beach, this is where you would find Lincoln and Karden. This tree is right outside the door to our condo, and the boys LOVE to climb it! Who wouldn't!?

Cutest Jaiden holding the grumpy Morgster

Morgans first Corn! Payton wanted in on the action...Morgan LOVED it- but of course, her diaper was STRAIGHT corn. Sorry babe!

Sorry Maxine...this just might be my favorite picture of the trip! Don't be mad at me for posting! LOVE IT! (She doesn't love to have pictures taken of her:) )

Morgan enjoying her corn again.

Grandpa and Karden enjoying the beach. Do you like Cleve's swimsuit?

Lincoln in his cute little shark towel/robe that he and Payton practically LIVED in! Such a cute little face.

Morgs enjoying the sand in her little tootsies

Family Shot...Awwwhhh!!

The whole shabang of a Smith Family Notice the fun blue T's. Thanks Maxine!

All the grandkids on the AWESOME floatie that the Becksteads brought!

Family Shot....Whoa buddy!

Happy Birthday to ME!

I don't usually post about my own birthday- because it really isn't that big of a deal to me- but this year we had SUCH a great time! It was all the way back on the 9th of July, but I need to document it. I had a great day. I woke up to the smell of one of my favorite things to eat...BACON!! I seriusly love it! I blame my younger years of camping for this. We used to line up for bacon- and that was before even breakfast was done! Until I married Cole- I don't think that I had EVER eaten bacon with my breakfast or any meal for that matter! It was usually an appetizer. :) I have to impress the old hubs now- so I have to restrain myself and eat it with breakfast! Anyways...sorry for the tangent! Cole and the boys brought me up a wonderful breakfast in bed! SO yummy. I was so spoiled. They also got me a whole bunch of really nice gifts that I loved so much. Cole is always so thoughtful of things that I need and he got me some things for my kitchen. A few new dishes...some hot pads/oven mits that were DESPERATELY needed! He also got me some things for our never ending tennis games! I'm so stoked! That night- he came home and made me some REALLY yummy dinner- followed by cupcakes that the boys picked out complete with some sprinkles that Cole was forced to buy because Payton dropped them and spilled them all over the floor at the store! Whoops...:) They were so yummers.

Twenty Eight candles is a LOT! So Cole improvised and used his brain a little bit! :)
Then- we put the kiddies to bed and my cutest friend EVER Anna came over and watched our kids while we went to a movie! I LOVE going to a movie with Cole. We hardly ever get to do it- because it is SO dang expensive so it was so nice to be out with my dear. Thanks for the wonderful b-day babe! I can't BELIEVE that I am 28 years old! It seems weird that I am that old. Close to 30! Wowsers! Anyways...happy birthday to me!





Sorry no pics of me...I was behind the camera! :) My plan worked out wonderfully!

4th of July...FINALLY!

We had the FUNNEST 4th of July weekend. It started on Friday the 2nd- and we took the kids to a Rockies game! They had a BLAST! And of course, we did too. :) Cole gave each of the boys a $5 bill to get whatever treat they wanted, and LIncoln thought that was seriously the best thing ever! He thought he had died and gone to heaven! Payton on the other hand promptly took the bill and started tearing it in half! So I went right on ahead and held on to that one! :) Lincoln got him a snow cone- which was almost SOLID ICE! Cole was so mad. :) I thought it was quite comical! We figured that they assemble the snowcones the night- or week- before, then put them in the freezer for the games. Smart- but doesn't make for a very yummy snow cone! Oh well! Payton chose a squishy lemonade (frozen lemonade) SO good! So- they were in quite good graces for the game. The Rocks pulled through with the "W", and we ended the night off with some spectacular fireworks! They were AWESOME! Lincoln was terrified the whole time and kept on crying saying that he was scared. Poor kid. Payton thought it was pretty spiffy, but just kept his ears covered the whole time. Morgs was asleep for the first part, but with all the bangs and pops, she quickly woke up and enjoyed the rest of the show without even MOVING! Such an angel baby! LOVE her! Anyways, we were feeling quite patriotic after.










The next day, we kind of hung around the house- did yard work- played in the sprinklers/kiddie pool and had fun there. We weren't going to do anything much- maybe see if we could find some fireworks somewhere- but our good friends the Dix's called us to see if we wanted to make what we did LAST year an annual thing- so we agreed! We headed off to Red Robin for a fun birthday celebration (Taylor's birthday is on the 8th and mine is on the 9th. Of course he is MUCH older than I- so it doesn't make me feel so bad! :) ) Then we headed back to their cute new house and hung for a little while until we couldn't see straight anymore on account of our tired bodies/eyes and took our little munchkins home to bed!

On the actual 4th, we didn't do anything spectacular. We went to church of course- then had a fun new family over for dinner! They just moved into our ward and they have 2 boys the same ages as Lincoln and Payton- and they have FAST become great friends! So it was a great day for us! This is Cole's favorite holiday- so we like this one. It's fun to be all together and do some fun things that we don't get to do lots of times. Happy 4th of July!

Home Town Rodeo

One saturday, Cole decided that he wanted all of us to go to a Rodeo together. So he looked up on the internet for one, and he found one in a little town called Hugo. We had SUCH a fun time! We were so nervous that it was going to be really crowded, and that our kids weren't going to have much fun, but it was TOTALLY opposite that! There were probably 100 people there, and the rodeo was called a Ranch Rodeo- and it featured things that would be done on a ranch; i.e. trailering (seeing how fast 4 cowboys could rope a calf, load it and their horses onto a trailer, close the gate, and then all pile into a pickup truck), branding (they didn't actually brand, just tried to see how fast they could catch the calf, put a mark on it's nose, and let it go!) and my personal favorite- Milking! That's right. 4 cowboys were running on the ground, while one was mounted on a horse. They would have to rope this cow that they turned loose, and then the 4 cowboys that were on the ground would have to actually MILK the cow as it was FREAKING out- and then run the bottle to the judge at the other end of the arena. It was SO awesome! My favorite for sure.
The kids had a great time as well. We all had our cowboy hats on- except for the REAL cowboy (Cole) of course. He doesn't even OWN a cowboy hat! What is THAT all about! Anyways...the boys had fun running around on the bleachers while Cole and I shelled sunflower seeds for them. Well, we shelled them for Lincoln. Payton just ate the whole thing- shell and all. Silly boy! As a side note- I gave him a whole bowl of cherries the other day, left the room for just a few minutes, and came back and they were all gone! PIT AND ALL!! Silly kid! Anyways...the rodeo was awesome. We will definitely be going to that one again. Lincoln and Payton were asking when they could come again before we had even left the parking lot! Yeah for Rodeo's! We seriously love them!


LOTS of this went on towards the end of the rodeo. If you look closely, Payton is MID JUMP over a little stream. Cool!

Look what I can do!!

Morgs is mastering the art of sitting up now! It has opened up a WHOLE new world for her! She loves it! Except for today while we were at the Museum of Nature and Science, she did a TOTAL face plant, and didn't think that was very fun! Keep on workin babe- life is MUCH more interesting when you aren't checkin things out from your back.

Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie....

And so it starts! Here come the solids! Poor little Morgan has been ITCHING to eat real food for a few weeks now, but I have just been lazy and have forgotten while I was at the store to buy some cereal/food for her. But I finally did it! She ate cereal for the first time yesterday, and actually LOVED it! She did really well too! Most of it got in her mouth, and she swallowed a good majority of it too! Way to go girl! Now I can use my fun blender for making baby food!

Before...

Maybe just some of the bib first Mom!!!

Wait for it...

Wait for it....

SUCCESS!!!!!

Yeah! I love it!!!

Can you even STAND how cute that face is! I could EAT her up!